How does faith work?

The truth of Christ is solid. Without faith in Christ there can be no moving on to real Christian hope. Without Christian hope there can be no moving on to real Christian love.

Truth is there all the time. It is unchanging and completely solid. It is not dependent on anyone believing or trusting.

Faith lays hold of truth, and rests upon it.

Holding on to truth of necessity means letting go of some other things. Before I found the truth of God my hands were not empty. I had other things that I was clinging to in order to make sense of life. Increasing in a life of faith necessitates more letting go of false Gods and false theologies, as well as more laying hold of the true God and the truth of His Word.

Faith is a gift of God (Ephesians 2:1-10). It is a gift in the beginning of a journey of faith, and it is a gift when it is experienced in increasing measure. You can ask for this gift.

Faith does not make everything wonderful. It does not prevent tragedy. It does not give us the answer to every question we may have about life or about our own particular lives. It does provide a certain stability, because the truth that it lays hold of is completely stable.

Trouble tests faith.

More tomorrow...